1. What have you found most challenging as a CEO or executive of a large enterprise?

Managing up, especially across multi-functional organizations where each leader has a different objective they'd like to accomplish for themselves and their respective departments. Sometimes politics gets in the way of progress and innovation.

2. How did you become a CEO or executive of a large enterprise? Can you please briefly tell the story?

I started as a Sr. Manager at T-Mobile over a decade ago and have driven numerous "Uncarrier" signature moves that are now known in the telco industry today (think contract freedom, no credit checks, among others) . A few years later, I led a digital transformation initiative that spanned over 1500 resources across the company in a multi-year effort. My leadership was recognized and I got promoted to Director in 2016. In 2020, I was looking for my "next big thing" and I gravitated towards AI/ML which is one of the emerging technologies today. After talking to numerous leaders in the organization, I joined Afiniti as a VP of Global Deployment and to this day, enjoying the innovation and science behind our product.

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

I usually wake up early in the morning, around 630am. On some days, I start my work early as I get to meet with my colleagues across the globe - in the US, Canada, UK, Pakistan, Turkey, Australia, to name a few. I usually get to end my days early as well. In the mid-afternoon, I get to spend some quiet time reading, playing the piano, or spending time with my kids after school. On days when I don't have early morning meetings, I do 5-mile runs to get energized throughout the day. During the evenings, I enjoy some relaxing time watching my favorite shows on Netflix with the occasional glass of wine.

4. What's the most recent significant leadership lesson you've learned?

Never underestimate the power of networking. It can be your lifesaver and open the doors to your next big thing.

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

I read this book called WEconomy. It talks about how you can use your leadership to positively impact families and developing communities. It touches on philanthropy and why investing in the public good will reap significant ROIs.

6. How do you build leadership capacity in a large enterprise?

Focus the majority of your time on developing your best performing talent. This will reap downstream benefits not only in building your next line of successors but the next generation of successors to come. Keep influencing up, across, and down.

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a CEO or executive of a large enterprise so far?

Stories of failure don't get told a lot but that's what makes our character stronger. I remember an experience when I was accountable for a major national implementation that failed on the first try. It was a huge dent to my confidence and I had to build myself and my team back up to learn from our failures, fail fast and be forward looking. The second try came in with better discipline and rigor which finally resulted in success. Key thing to remember is don't forget to celebrate small wins and recognize that it takes a village to produce something successful in a large enterprise.